What the Heart Wants by Staci Heart

Publisher: Promise Socks Publishing
Date Published: September 15th 2013
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Series: Good Gods #2.5
Rating: Kooky Overload 5 out of 5 stars

Love wasn't an option, until he met her.

It's 1984, and Tanaka Katsu is paving his way in the Yakuza. His marriage to Yuki was a business deal, and one that he has paid for with his happiness.

Aphrodite can't stand that he's so miserable, and Hera, the goddess of marriage and monogamy, has a strong hold on Yuki, who will do whatever it takes to get what she believes is hers. Aphrodite won't sit by and watch Katsu's life slip away with no chance at love, so when he takes a trip to Vegas, she'll introduce him to his match.

Kim never thought she'd be in the situation like the one that's coming her way, but what the heart wants is a powerful thing, and one that's impossible to walk away from.

What the Heart Wants is a short story about Kat and Kiki's (both from book two, Snake in the Grass) mother and father, Katsu and Kim. It's a wonderfully sweet and heart-wrenching back story of their love story.

Katsu is from Japan, but came over to America to marry Yuki in a business arrangement. Yuki's father is the head of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) in the American branch in New York. Katsu is making his way up the ranks but at the price of his happiness. Yuki is an awful, uncontrollable spoiled-rotten brat. There is no love between the two.

Kim is working in Vegas as a showgirl and a waitress. She always ends her day on tired feet, but one day she'll own her own dance studio and all of her hard work will be worth it. So when Kim meets Katsu she has to wonder if taking a chance on him is worth it. Danger follows Katsu and Kim is now in danger. Is their love really worth the risk?

Aphrodite feels bad for Katsu. Being stuck in a loveless marriage is horrible and Dita knows she can get him his match. But Hera will throw a fit if Dita has Katsu cheat on his wife. The feud between Hera and Dita could just get someone killed. But isn't the love worth the risk of Hera's wrath?

My favorite characters in this were Katsu and Dita. I think Dita will always be a favorite for me. But we only got a glimpse of Katsu in Snake in the Grass and you didn't get much of an opinion of him. What the Heart Wants offers a chance to get to know Katsu and Kim.

Katsu is in this honor-bound marriage to Yuki. And I truly feel bad for him. I usually hate cheating with a passion, but in this case I think I'd let it slide. After all, marriage and love should go hand-in-hand, but when they don't it's a bit of a disappointment. Katsu is destined for unhappiness in his love life. Yuki will never love him. And when he's offered this chance at love... can you really blame him for taking it?

Kim is an uncertain character. She doesn't feel, to me at least, like she's a very strong or profound character. I mean, she's nice, she has dreams and goals and she falls in love with Katsu. But she does seem a bit your run-of-the-mill female lover. With Katsu there was character growth and you could connect with him. Kim felt a bit static to me.

Yuki. O.M.G. She is just awful. Completely and utterly awful. She wants to control Katsu. The sad thing is, Katsu wanted to love her. And he gave her a chance to love him. But she's this spoiled rotten prima donna. She was a bit stereotypical, but really I just hated her infantile personality. It was tiring and draining, and I could understand why her father wanted to get rid of her and Katsu couldn't love her.

Dita we all know from the earlier books. She's a bit lusty and sometimes gives people awful curses and has a tendency to over-react, but really she just wants to play match-maker and help people find love. She fought Hera for control on this one, and she won.

Hera. Normally, I'm all about commitment and no cheating. I really am. I can't even read most books with cheaters in them because I want to reach into the books and throttle the characters. But this time I think Dita is right. It's not Katsu's fault he had to be married to Yuki, and there's no way for him to get out of it. He shouldn't be punished to not having any love. I think it's a bit harsh.

I have to say, Katsu and Kim's relationship is probably my favorite out of all the ones in the books so far. Dean and Lex's relationship is probably second. I don't know, there's just something about Katsu and Kim that just... it works, y'know? It fits. I really like it.

I can't really think of anything I don't like. Yuki is awful, and Katsu's situation sucks, but those things kind of make up the story. Without them you wouldn't have a story.

The writing was nice, it flowed well, no mistakes that I could find. I think the writing was pretty well done for this one. The only thing would be the epilogue, which is modern-day compared to the rest of the story that was in the past. I do wish that it was pronounced. A title or something saying there was a switch of the times. I didn't see anything telling me that the story had gone back to present times.

All together, a wonderful background story for the series. It is not essential for readers to know when reading the books, but it was a great story that I highly recommend reading. It's short and fun, and you get to learn a bit more about Kat and Kiki's heritage.

  

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Snake in the Grass by Staci Hart

Publisher: Promise Socks Publishing

Date Published: June 8th 2013

Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance

Series: Good Gods #2
Source: Author

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

The truth changes everything.

It’s round two of high stakes Love Connection on Olympus, and this time, everything has changed. 

Ares is on deck, and Aphrodite is nervous, because as much as she loves to hook up with him, she doesn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, which isn’t very far. She never could resist him, not even when every part of her screamed that he was a liar, but after the last game, she’s seeing things in a new light, light that has cast shadows across her entire life.

Ares has a plan to keep Aphrodite, for good this time. He wants to win the game, but he’ll hold back, if that’s what it takes. He’s sitting on a chance that was thousands of years in the making, and he’ll do what he has to do to convince her to stay forever. The only thing that could stop him is the secret that he’s been keeping for eons. If she finds out, it will destroy everything.

Aphrodite picks Kat, a gun toting drag racer, and Ares decides on Dillon, a badass boxer who never loses. Both of their lives revolve around keeping their siblings safe, and they’ve sacrificed everything to make sure things stay that way. They are tough and loyal, fierce and determined, but they become each other’s weakness, even though they fight it, and even though it means danger for Kat and her sister.

What an amazing sequel!

This round of the game Aphrodite is up against Ares, after defeating Apollo in the first game. Dita is struggling to keep Ares at arms length though, no longer having Adonis as a buffer. Since Adonis decided to throw a tantrum Dita gives up to her attraction to Ares. Meanwhile, Ares is being sneaky, trying to keep Dita forever now that Adonis is gone. His chance to have Dita after losing her so long ago makes him giddy with how close he is to getting what he wants. But if Dita finds out the secret he hid and lied about for thousands of years... he could lose more than the game. He could lose Aphrodite indefinitely.

Dita's player in this round is Kat, a kick-ass drag racing daughter of the leader of the Japanese mafia. She has a fiery attitude and doesn't take crap from anyone. But Kat will always protect her sister. And even though Kiki doesn't think her abusing ex will come after them, Kat isn't so sure, so the last thing she wants is to let someone in and keep her distracted. Ares chooses Dillion, a cage fighter with a dark childhood. Dillion is broken inside, having to protect his younger brother Owen from their father and his powerful fists. With meddling siblings trying to play matchmaker and the similarities between the two, Kat and Dillion are obviously made for each other. But will they look past their issues and see each other?

LOVED this book. The players were so different in this one. I think I liked the first one better, but that's probably because I can relate more to the characters in that one. I still think that the characters in this one are super cool, of course.

Kat's fiery attitude is awesome. I love how she can point a gun at someone and stand up for herself. Her 'I don't give a shit' attitude is great. She isn't a doormat and she stands her ground. It's a wonderful example that I think some girls should definitely take to heart. She has such a strong personality.

Kiki, Kat's little sister, is the sweet one. She doesn't worry enough, whereas Kat worries too much. They're almost like light and day in their personalities, but they balance each other out.

Dillon is a bit of a tricky character. I mean, he's a cage fighter, and his dad beat him as a child. So from the outside you may just want to say hell to the no for him, because there's no way you'd want to put yourself at risk. But the more we learn about Dillion in the story, the more we see he does care and is trying to control his anger so he doesn't turn out like his dad.

Owen is soft. There's no better way to put it. He's not soft like a wimp, I wouldn't say that, but I think from what he's dealt with and what he's seen he is gentle with the world. The opposite reaction from Dillion

And that's something I really loved. How each set of siblings was just perfect for each other. They fit so well. It was like in the last book, where you got the feels real bad at the end. Yeah, well, you'll get them when encountering these two couples in the book.

And the Olympus side of things. I still think that Adonis is a spoiled child. He throws a tantrum because he disagrees with Dita. It's just so... infantile. Highly dislike him. And Ares. I can't believe him. You would think he'd know that karma would come back to bite him in the butt. He deserves what he gets.

Dita, gosh, it's a sad day when the goddess of love is struggling with her own love life. I am hoping, crossing my finger as tight as they will go, that Heff ends up with Dita. I know she said she would never be with him because she was forced into marriage with Heff, but from what we've seen in the books so far he seems kind and gentle, like he'd treat Dita the way she deserves. It seems like there is a slim to no chance of that happening, but a girl can hope.

Overall, another spectacular read by Staci Hart. I really cannot wait for Doe Eyes to come out! This was a must-read for me, just like the first. I imagine the next one will be even better :)

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What are you reading? Sick of mythology yet? I thought I was. But so far I have LOVED this series.

Interview with Jennifer L. Armentrout

     How many of you are excited for the release of Opal? I know I can't wait! For those of you who don't know, Opal is the third book in the Lux series. The first book in the Lux series is Obsidian, and to check out my review click here.
     Here's the synopsis for Opal, taken from Goodreads:

No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.
But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Together we’re stronger... and they know it.





Author bio (from her website): USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

I asked Jennifer L. Armentrout for a quick interview, and here it is.

When did you decide you start writing?
As cliche as it sounds, I've always wanted to be writer. As a kid, I wrote really bad poems on my bedroom walls. It was doing the 9th grade, that I wrote my first novel by longhand. So I've always wanted to write.

Have you always wanted to write, or did you want to do something else?
I went to college for psychology and criminal justice. It wasn't until 2007 that got back into writing.

How long do you see yourself writing for?
Forever, hopefully.

What inspired you to write the Lux series?
My editor approached me, asking if I'd be interested in writing about aliens in high school. My first response was to laugh and say no, but the more I thought about it, I came up with Katy, Daemon, and the idea of the Luxens. The rest is history.

Is Damon based off of anyone you know, and if so, can I meet him?
No. He's not based off of anyone, but if he was, he'd be a keeper.

 

     Unfortunately at this time she didn't have time for a longer interview, but if you want to contact Jennifer L. Armentrout to ask a question you can get in touch with her through her Facebook page, Goodreads, her website: http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/, her website: http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/, follow on Twitter @jlarmentrout or her e-mail: jenniferlarmentrout(at)live(dot)com.

     Opal's release date is December 18th 2012. You can pre-order Opal from Amazon, Indiebound, Google eBooks, Better World Books, Indigo, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million and more.

 

Thanks everyone! And thank you Jennifer L. Armentrout!

 

K.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hello, who doesn't like dragons? I happen to LOVE dragons. This is an AMZING book. I've been wanting to read it for quite some time but I've never gotten around to it until now. It's different from what I'm used to reading, but that's fine by me. I think this is better than a lot of my favorite books combined. The plotline is extrememly good, and I sort of love the characters.

I actually saw the movie a few years ago, and I've got to say, the book is an infinite number of times better. I like the name Eragon, I think the name Saphira is really pretty, and I like the unusual, unpronounsable names too.

I haven't read the Lord of the Rings books, but I've seen the movies. Are the similarities supposed to be there? It seems as though the books are linked, though the authors are different which I find to be an extradordinary coincidence. Never mind. Even if they're not this books is amazing.

I would reccommend it to everyone. When I first say the book I thought it would have complex language and words I did not know in it.Turns out this is just the right reading level for me. I knew most words, except for one here or there. It's suitable for teenagers and adults alike. The plot keeps you on the edge of your seat and you will fall in love with the characters.

I suggest you don't wait forever like I did and that you start reading this NOW!

Kacii

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